In the past month, the Blue Devils (23-4, 14-1) lost at home to Maryland and St. John's. They were without key reserve Mike Dunleavy, who returned from his home in Oregon to Durham, N.C. on Wednesday to continue recovery from mononucleosis. And the Tigers (10-18, 4-11) are playing better than their record.

``We've had to live with the expectations for a long time now,'' said Carrawell, who scored 19 points. ``For us to accomplish all we want, we have to handle them. This was part of it. This gets us ready for the weekend.''

That's when North Carolina comes to Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Duke hasn't been its dominating self.

``We're not the Duke team that we were a few weeks ago,'' coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``But we're still fighting like crazy. If we can keep getting better while Dunleavy's gone, maybe when he comes back we'll be a better basketball team.''

If Battier, a junior, and Carrawell, a senior, play like they did at Littlejohn Coliseum, Krzyzewski might not worry so much.

Battier seven 3-pointers broke his career best by one and Carrawell clamped down on ACC leading scorer Will Solomon as the Blue Devils recovered from Saturday's one-point home loss to No. 18 St. John's.

Battier was almost perfect from long range in the first half, going 6-of-7, and sent Duke to its eighth straight victory over Clemson.

Jason Williams had 16 points and eight assists for Duke, while Carlos Boozer of Juneau scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds before fouling out with 5 minutes left in the game.

Solomon, the league's top scorer at 20.6 points a game, had 26 points, but Carrawell harassed him throughout and he was 10-of-26 from the field.

The Blue Devils have been so dominant the past four seasons - with four consecutive ACC titles - that any slip has some wondering what's wrong. It happened Feb. 9, when Maryland ended their 31game ACC winning streak. And it happened again this week as the Red Storm became just the third nonconference team in 130 games to win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

``When someone starts making shots like that, they get in a zone,'' said Solomon.

No. 6 Ohio St. 79, Penn St. 73

Michael Redd had 22 points and George Reese added 16, eight in the final five minutes, as the Buckeyes (21-5, 12-3) moved into first place in the Big Ten. They can assure themselves of a share of the conference title for the first time in eight years by beating Minnesota on Saturday. Joe Crispin had 21 points and Jarrett Stephens added 19 in their final home game for Penn State (13-13, 5-10), which has lost eight of 10.

No. 8 Florida 87, South Carolina 67

Mike Miller had 15 points and Teddy Dupay added 14, all in the second half, as the Gators (23-5, 12-3) clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference title. Jamel Bradley had 15 points for the visiting Gamecocks (12-16, 4-11).

No. 9 Syracuse 73, Notre Dame 71

Ryan Blackwell scored 24 points and the Orangemen (24-3, 13-2) clinched at least a share of the Big East title. Troy Murphy had 20 points for the Fighting Irish (16-13, 7-8), who trailed 70-68 with 44 seconds left. But the comeback was thwarted when the home crowd was assessed a technical foul with 8.8 seconds to play for throwing objects on the court after they were warned by coach Matt Doherty over the loudspeaker earlier in the half. Syracuse made three of six free throws - two by Blackwell - to offset a final 3-pointer by Murphy.

The Cyclones (25-4, 13-2) trailed 64-61 when they went on an 11-0 run to take the lead for good.

Michael Nurse hit a 3-pointer with 6:35 to play to tie the game 64-64 and Iowa State took the lead for good on an inside basket by Steve Johnson with 6:06 left. Fizer's tip-in with 4:50 capped the run and gave the Cyclones their biggest lead, 72-64.

Johnson finished with 19 points, while Nurse had 13 and Jamaal Tinsley 10 for the Cyclones.

Rayford Young led Tech (12-14, 3-12) with 36 points on 13-for-21 shooting, including 3-for-6 from 3-point range, and had seven assists.

No. 11 Tennessee 73, Arkansas 66

Tony Harris scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half as the Volunteers (23-5, 11-4 SEC) set a school record for victories, breaking a mark set in 1976-77. Freshman Joe Johnson had 21 points for the visiting Razorbacks (14-14, 6-9).

No. 12 LSU 55, No. 19 Auburn 53

Jabari Smith's three-point play with 16 seconds to play gave LSU (24-4, 11-4) its first Southeastern Conference West Division title. Mack McGadney had 17 points for Auburn (21-7, 9-6), which had its 30game home winning streak snapped as the defending conference champions played without star forward Chris Porter, suspended Sunday for taking $2,500 from a sports agent.

No. 13 Oklahoma St. 96, Colorado 60

Desmond Mason scored 19 of his 29 points in the first half as the Cowboys (23-4, 12-3 Big 12) took control early and cruised. Jaquay Walls had 14 points for the Buffaloes (16-12, 6-9), who lost in Stillwater for the 18th straight time.

No. 17 Maryland 85, Florida St. 70

Terence Morris had 21 points and 11 rebounds and Steve Blake scored a career-high 17 points and had 10 assists as the Terrapins (22-7, 11-4) won their ninth straight ACC game. Damous Anderson scored 22 points for the Seminoles (11-15, 6-9), who have lost eight straight to Maryland and seven in a row at Cole Field House.

No. 21 Oklahoma 77, Texas A&M 59

Eduardo Najera scored 20 points for the visiting Sooners (23-5, 11-4 Big 12), who are 13-1 against Texas A&M. Bernard King had 15 points for the Aggies (7-19, 3-12), who have lost nine of 10.